"Fifth? That bald little old man?!"
Bisca cried out in shock, immediately recalling the drunk little geezer she had seen when she first came to the guild last night.
That old man was tiny, not even reaching her knees.
And when he looked at her, his eyes had been all lecherous too. He did not look like a strong person at all.
Yet who would have thought he was actually someone that incredible?
Then again, in a way, that still matched Bisca's image of what a true powerhouse should be.
After all, were not the truly strong all supposed to be elderly, white-haired masters with years of experience behind them?
While she was still busy thinking that over, Sorano had already risen from her seat and made her way to the crowd gathered around the newspaper.
"Move aside. Let this lady see what's going on."
She shoved her way through the crowd with pure arrogance, reached the center, snatched the paper from Warren's hands after only a glance, and loftily said to Warren and Max,
"I'm borrowing this for now. I'll return it after I finish reading."
"Hah? A mere newcomer, just watch me..."
As the actual owner of the newspaper, Max obviously was not willing to accept that and instantly jumped up, ready to argue with her.
But before he could finish speaking, Sorano had already pulled out the key of Gemini.
"Gemini, let me see what magazines he's been reading at night lately... and how many times he's flown."
Gemini, the Celestial Spirit of the Twins, immediately transformed into Max's appearance, ready to search through his memories.
"...I'll just go buy another copy."
Max changed his face at once. With an ingratiating smile, he begged weakly,
"I was wrong, Big Sis Sorano. Please put your magic away~~"
"Hmph. If you knew what was good for you, you should've acted like this from the start."
Sorano snorted and dismissed Gemini.
The Fairy Tail members around them all took a step back in unison and automatically cleared a path for her.
After Sorano left, Max wiped away a cold sweat and said bitterly,
"Damn it, why are all the women in this guild more difficult than the last? When are we male mages ever going to rise up?!"
"Heh. As long as monsters like Erza and Mira are around, that'll never happen."
Warren's light, drifting sentence instantly made every man there, including Max, lower his head in silence.
...
Meanwhile, Sorano had already returned to her seat with the newspaper and was flipping through it with great interest.
Bisca curiously leaned over and took a glance, then asked in confusion,
"Who's this Kabe? Why isn't there a photo of him?"
Sorano tilted her cute little head and pointed at the large photo of a young man that took up nearly half the page.
"Isn't this him right here? He's from our guild. Before pretending to be Fairy Tail, you should've at least learned who the famous people in our guild were."
"Ehhh, he's this young?!"
Looking at the man in the newspaper, with his sharp, handsome features and absurdly youthful face, Bisca's eyes nearly popped out of her skull.
She unceremoniously snatched the paper right out of Sorano's hands, her whole face practically pressing against it as she read the contents in disbelief.
…Following a recommendation from the Kingdom of Fiore, Ishgar's youngest S-Class mage, the eighteen-year-old genius mage Kabe of Fairy Tail, is expected to break the record and become the new one of the Ten Wizard Saints…